Netanyahu accuses Palestinians of retreating from deal

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israelis and Palestinians blamed each
other Tuesday for their failure to reach an agreement on
Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

"We were very close, very close or relatively close to moving
on negotiations with the Palestinians a few days ago,"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a
conference on Middle East affairs. "There has been a retreat
on the Palestinian side."

"Mr. Netanyahu is still stalling," retorted senior
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. "Mr. Netanyahu's endgame
is now to insinuate that he had accepted to redeploy from 13
percent and make sure he can blame the Palestinians for
saying no."

At issue is a U.S. proposal that calls for Israel to cede 13
percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians, a move Israel
says would threaten its security. So Netanyahu offered a
compromise: Israel would withdraw from 10 percent of the
land, and an additional 3 percent would be set aside as a
nature preserve under Israeli security control.

Official talks on the issue have not taken place for weeks,
but Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative
Council, said Tuesday that he had been talking with Yitzhak
Molcho, an attorney and confidant of Netanyahu.

"There are contacts," he said, "but there is no agreement."

Mubarak

Mubarak involvement?

Netanyahu said that he had paid "a political price" with
members of his own coalition in his attempts to end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"But it cannot be that while I am indicating my willingness
to risk political concession and political attacks, the
Palestinian side takes no risks, and they only address one
side of the equation," he said.

Some Israelis have privately blamed Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak for the stall in the negotiations. They believe
Mubarak advised Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat not to sign
a deal now, hoping to deadlock the peace process and topple
the Netanyahu government.

Erekat scoffed at the idea.

"This is all nonsense," he said. "There is one person to be
blamed for the stalemate, for the deterioration of the peace
process.... That is Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu."

But Netanyahu aides disagree, claiming their boss is now
anxious for a deal.